Yamaha Tenori-On: 16×16 LED Light + Sound Toy

What if Lite Brite and a tablet PC had a crazy love child? It might look something like the Yamaha Tenori-On. The basic idea is, you press buttons on a 16×16 LED grid and trigger sounds and visuals; there are collaborative features for playing with your friends Tenori-Ons, and the back of the screen functions as an LED, so instead of a private trippy experience, everyone can see the fun. Tim writes us:

On the strength of the demo videos I want one of these! I first read of its existence [at We Make Money Not Art].
Most of the official info seems to be in Japanese, but there’s a 16MB movie of someone playing with one here:http://envol.info/iwai.mov, and info on the OS.
I have a lot of respect for designers who can create musical instruments and interfaces which even small children can play with!

I almost agree. But a violin’s usability? You crane it uncomfortably between your chin and your shoulder, bruising your neck, it takes months to make a sound that won’t clear the room and make people beg for mercy, and years to make music. If you never got to see a violin, it would sound just as beautiful. Instrument design is important, but let’s separate the toys from the great instruments: even if violins looked ugly, we’d still fall in love with them for their sound and expressive range. So maybe designers need to reconsider what the criteria are. I think it has a lot less to do with shape, looks, and “usability,” and a lot more to do with sound and music. (Of course, in the meantime, I do still want to play with a Tenori-On.) See also: Music Thing